Swinburne Innovation Challenge | September

Tomorrow’s employees need to be innovators and problem solvers.

The Swinburne Innovation Challenge runs over four weeks utilising a blended model of delivery. Small teams of high ability year 10 to 12 students will be supported through a scaffolded process to choose a challenge, ideate a solution and deliver a prototype and a short video pitch. The program includes a half-day on campus, where students will have the opportunity to access our labs and teaching spaces and experience life as a university student. The program is designed to be student-led and require minimal teacher intervention.

By participating in the program, students will...

• Build an understanding of diverse ways of thinking and innovation frameworks.
• Collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams to leverage different skills and perspectives.
  
• Extend knowledge in their chosen subject area.

To start the program, students will form multi-disciplinary teams of 4-6 and select a challenge to address related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

After forming their teams and selecting the challenge focus, students will attend a half-day on-campus experience at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus. This will comprise a 90-minute Innovation Kickstarter workshop followed by a discipline-specific specialist workshop for each student’s preferred area of interest. Students choose their specialist workshops from these subject options:

• Business Management
• Legal Studies
• Product Design and Technology
• Physical Education
• Psychology
• Engineering
• Applied Computing
• Physics
• Sociology
• Media

Finally, students will regroup into their teams and share what they have each learned from the discipline workshops to kickstart their collaborative journey.

After the on-campus experience, students will return to school and work in their teams to refine their idea and create a final pitch. Final pitches are submitted in the form of a 1-2 min video and a panel of Swinburne experts will evaluate them and award prizes in a range of categories.

Swinburne University of Technology acknowledges the support of the Department of Education and Training, Victoria, through the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series. This program is available to high ability students at government schools.